November 3, 2003

Newspaper Association of America, Inc.  
Presstime

Telemarketing Tie-Ups; Phone Rules Put Marketing Efforts in Focus

With the push to regulate telemarketing embroiled in legal and legislative fights (see story, p. 6), circulation executives face a daunting task as they try to figure out how to comply with a national do-not-call registry and other federal and state telemarketing laws.

Attendees at an NAA-sponsored Telemarketing Compliance Workshop at the San Francisco Chronicle were warned not to rely on supposed loopholes to avoid compliance.

NAA Vice President and General Counsel Rene Milam pointed out that, under Federal Trade Commission regulations, breaking telemarketing rules constitutes "unfair or deceptive acts and practices" that can bring lawsuits from federal and state governments and private parties. She noted, however, that a "safe harbor" exists when sellers or telemarketers abandon calls, if 3 percent of calls to a consumer are "abandoned" because of a "dead air" connection, a 15-second-or-less ring is allowed before disconnecting, and a recorded message must be played if an operator is unavailable within two seconds of an answer.

Milam further pointed out that FTC and Federal Communications Commission rules do not apply to calls for non-telemarketing purposes such as market research and bill collection, or when the seller has an ongoing business relationship with the respondent.

Joseph Sanscrainte, an attorney for Call Compliance, a consulting firm in Glen Cove, N.Y., advised circulation executives to eschew "compliance myths" like "They only go after the big players," "This will blow over," and "As long as I don't call DNC numbers, I'll be fine." He also urged attendees to train personnel in compliance, establish written telemarketing procedures, maintain a list of phone numbers not to be contacted, and appoint a compliance chief "who will enforce the rules. You will have to prove you did everything you're supposed to do. Don't open the door to investigation."

Circulation reps must operate in a compliant manner, positioning themselves to maintain and grow home delivery, said moderator John Murray, NAA vice president of circulation marketing.

This won't be an easy job, speakers acknowledged, given that some 50 million consumers have signed up for the federal DNC list. More than 25 states also regulate telemarketing.

That telemarketing is a major factor in building a subscription base was emphasized by attendee Bryan L. Clark, circulation director for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, who said in an interview that about 60 percent of CNPA members rely strongly on phone selling. "I've been preaching a reduction in telemarketing" because of FCC and FTC restrictions, he added.

Other circulation executives affirmed telemarketing's importance as a subscription sales tool. "Telemarketing is a big portion of our start-ups and it's the least expensive way to get new subscribers," said Steve Sims, circulation sales and marketing manager at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane.

Workshop speaker Evan Mecak, the San Francisco Chronicle's database marketing manager, said telemarketing accounted for 65 percent of the paper's starts in 2001, 55 percent in 2002 and 43 percent year to date. The projection for 2004 is 32 percent, he said.

Telemarketing success depends largely on the caller's skill, said speaker Joe Rand, director of the call center at the Idaho Statesman in Boise and four other Gannett Co. newspapers. "Get right to the point," he stressed, noting that federal regulations forbid chitchat by callers. "Tell them what you're calling about and the terms of the offer." In Gannett's Tel-Sel program, he continued, "the goal is to get the prospect to try your paper and, once it's in the door, it should sell itself."